Salisbury's Queen Cage. — On May 4 

 the Rev. A. Salisbury sent us a very little 

 queen cage, 1% in. square and 1 in. thick ; 

 the chamber for bees being a round hole % 

 in. deep and of \% in. diameter. A piece 

 of wire cloth pressed down into the cham- 

 ber % in. covered by another piece on the 

 flat surface ; leaving the % in. space, made 

 it according to the requirements of the law. 

 But, as the small chamber was then dimin- 

 ished to %x\% in. for the food and bees, of 

 course the bees were every one dead when 

 received— pretty, but dead— the cage an- 

 swering the law, but the bees had "passed 

 away." 



On the cage Mr. S. had written this : 

 " What have you to say now, doubting 

 Thomas ?" This subjected the package to 

 double letter postage, as it was a private let- 

 ter. 



"Doubting Thomas" answers that a hu- 

 mane man should not confine his bees in so 

 small a prison as to cause death when he 

 desires to transport them to other " pastures 

 green." 



"Doubting Thomas" thinks that it should 

 be generally known that anything (other 

 than the address) written on a package of 

 goods, subjects the whole to double letter 

 postage at its destination. 



Looking thp ground all over, "Thomas" 

 is quite satisfied with his "doubts," when 

 he sees how the over credulous ones get into 

 trouble. 



Propolis.— Mr. M. Spaulding, West 

 Creek, Ind., asks us to state in the Bee 

 Journal what effect propolis has on wax 

 when melted with it. The wax will rise to 

 the top, and the propolis and dirt will be 

 found at the bottom of the kettle. 



Honey Dew, Etc.— Mr. W.J. Willard, 



Jonesboro, 111., sends us some plants, and 

 describes them as follows : 



I send you some of the flowers which are 

 now supplying the honey and constitute 

 our main crop ; also some of the ornamen- 

 tal flowers now in bloom here. I also in- 

 close a bunch of the peach leaves which are 

 producing " honey dew." All the honey dew 

 I have ever noticed on the grass, leaves, 

 etc., I have been able to trace to the 

 aphides ; that which I found produced by 

 the leaves and flowers was never scattered 

 about promiscuously ; it remained where it 

 was born. I have learned just enough of 

 the sciences and of practical life to feel that 

 any man who bases his assertions on one or 

 two observations is injuring the cause of 

 bee-keeping, and making a fool of himself. 



Hastings' Queen Cage. — On page 214 

 of the last number of the Bee Journal,. 

 we noticed the queen cage of Mr. J. E. 

 Hastings. As it is strong, durable and fully 

 answers' the law, we illustrate by the ac- 



companying engraving. We shall keepthem> 

 on hand, and can furnish at the shortest 

 notice. See prices on page 303. They are 

 not provisioned, but there is a small augur 

 hole to contain candy, so arranged that the 

 food cannot interfere with the bees. 



The "nails" are left loose, so that the 

 shipper can draw 3 out (the ones left up> 

 and swing the top around and put in the 

 candy. There is no tack over the candy- 

 pocket. 



IIP Mr. F. W. Chapman uses peat for 

 smoker fuel, and it "works like a charm."" 



HdTOn account of so much space being 

 used this month with convention reports, we- 

 have had to contract our editorial space con- 

 siderably. These reports are very inte rest- 

 ing, and will pay for a thorough perusal. 



Felt Blankets. — We have used very 

 successfully for a warm covering for brood 

 frames, blankets cut from woolen webbing 

 after having been used in paper mills. They 

 make a very warm cover, and keep the bees- 

 very comfortable in winter. We have se- 

 cured a lot of such, and furnish those who 

 desire them for 5c a blanket ; or when 50 or 

 more are wanted for 4c each. 



d^" We spent a short time at Mr. H. H. 

 Everton's, near Monroe, 111., while attend- 

 ing the Convention at Davis Junction . He 

 is a whole-souled gentleman, and, with his 

 lady, entertained us right royally. We were 

 much pleased with the intelligence and en- 

 terprise of the members of the Rock River 

 Valley Association. 



